Vapor electric apparatus.



C. 0. BASTIAN'. VAPOR ELEGTR'G APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 27, 1913.

'2 gums-SHEET 1` 4 Patent-,ed sept. 15,19141 G. 0. BASTIAN.

VAPOR ELECTRIC APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED JIAN.27, 1913.

v Patented sept. 15,1914.v I

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2..

v WITNESSES in Vapor PUNTTED sTATEs PATENT oFFrcE.

JHARLES ORME BASTIAN, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO COOPER HEWITT ELECTRIC CO., OFvI-IOBOKEN, NEW

To lll 'u1/omit may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES ORME BAs- TIAN, `electrical engineer, a subject of the King of Great- Britain, residing at 75 Bron- (lesbury road, Londen, England, have invented certain new and useful Irnfprovements Electric Apparatus, o which the 1` following is a specification.

" This vinvention has for its object improvements in or relating to electric vapor apparatus especially.'electricvlamps of the character known as electric vapor lamps or vapor arc lamps.

Forthe sake ofbrevity I refer to the tube containing the mercury and electrodes and in which the are is formed during Working as the burner and this irrespective of Whether the apparatus'be used for giving lighter for any otherpurpose such as rectifying or rupturing electric circuits. In such j electric vapor apparatus-I havefound that unsteadiness and accidental extinction of the arc may be caused by th passage Vthrough the are path of particles or paths of uni-aporizedwor .un-ionized material, such as mercury, and I prevent this by forming the e upper or negative elec' container tube at th trode of such 'unvaporizcd cr it and prevent it small. bore as to retain thel 11nionized mercury Within ruiming down tothe lower or positive electrode through the arc path,

and the cross-sectional areas of the and I arrange the yheat radiating surfaces positive and negative electrodes in' such proportion one to thel other, as to cause a lhigher te1nperature at one electrode lthan at the other,

and a reduction of` temperature at one electrode, as and. when the volume of that electrode decreases or vice-versa, so that the mercury .from one and the condensation of mercury at the other, will automatlcally compensate for and rectify Vce ion-ized A. conditionthat increase or diminution, as the case .may be due to that effect of the electric current which I may conveniently' describe as a kindof electrolytic or lionizing effect.

NOW by my present invention I retain practically constant quantities'of mercury at.

eachl electrode respectively and thus'est'ab-l fish' andmain'tain a' condition ofeq-uilibriuni or -practicallyso 'and thus secure perfectly steady Working of my apparatus gas only mer'euryin a condition of vapor or in` an is permitted* to pass Specification of Letters Patent.

Original'application led December 19, 1905, Serial No, 252,480. Divided 27, 1913. Serial No. 744,308.

JERSEY, A coRroRATIoN or NEW JERsEY. varon ELECTRIC APPARATUS.

Patented sept. 15, i914.

through the are .path after the current has they consequently will keep constantly in ,)peration with only a small proportion of 'steadying resistance for example sufficient steadying resistance to absorb only 15% of the total energy in the circuit.`

hen a symmetrical column of mercury is closely confined `within ('z'. e. closely sursrounded by) an exhausted glass tube of symmetrical bore, it exhibits a. very considerable amount of cohesion throughout its length (even if held v'vhe'n it is desired to separate at any given point, restrict the tube at that point z'. e. render the column other than symmetrical at said point or otherwise make such point the Weakest point in the column of mercury; for instance I may interpose a device or piece of glass` or any suitable material or draw out once been started (through the burner) and' vertically or therea'bou't) and such columnl it is adyantageus to and this application filed January the glass tube at the desired point to reduce tion on the lamp'a'n enlargement or trap into which the' air may be transferred by careful manipulation and retained there by solid mercury which latter may foi-m one of the electrodes, and the air thus trapped is there-,

by prevented from getting into the arc-and disarranging the normal' operationv of the latter. If -the said enlargement or. trap be attached to the topof'the anode (or cathode) it serves the double purpose of a cushion for the mercury in such electrode forcing the mercury back when the circuit is broken and preventing it vfrom sticking 4in the tube.

Then starting twoor morev of these burners impara-11u by the tilting mech-0d and u' 3 is 'practically impessiblpm anse 'berth xarts" t'strilr e simultaneously Whicllof course is necessary andermigrare-Strike une are a d' more separate'rpaths, and 'Y 'rana-nageur aliases for example by lforming the tubular con- 1 Referring now more particularly to Fig. tainer Y-shaped with two positive electrodes l l z--cz is the container tube which is 'of small and one common negative electrode, a chamber being provided at each ot thepositiveA ends of the burner for receiving the solid mercury removed from the arc path, and the boreI of the tube may be suitably enlarged between the point at which the arcs unite and the negative electrode. l find it advantageous to liX the position of the negative electrode, and cause the mercurv to move :toward or past the positive electrode or electrodes when the lamp is put into operation, and l maintain a constant length of are between the electrodes, and cause theI pressure within the arc to vary tlieposition ot' the solid vmercury situated in or moved into a suitable receptacle behind the positive electrode or electrodes and solid mercury may beprovided so as to keep the quantitv ot solid mercury at the positive electrode constant or approximately so.

The heat radiating surface of mercury vay por lamps or other electric Vapor apparatus may -be conveniently regulated by forming the 'glass or other envelop inclosiug or surrounding the arc with a constant internal cross-section but With a thicker or thinner wall according to Whether it is desirable to provide more or less heat radiating surface.

It has been proposed to start mercury vapor apparatus by means of a shunt electromagnet, and to leave the latter in circuit during subsequent operation, but l find itdesirable to arrange for the pressure within the are to automatically cut out of circuit "the shunt electro-magnet during such time as the lam is in operation and to restore the connection when the current yis switched ed' and the pressure subsides through cooling, and l may conveniently eiiect this by causing the pressure to act on a body of mercury behind the positive electrode as aforesaid for example by separating the electro-magnet circuit connection from the positive electrode.

y Referring to the accompanying drawingsz-Figure 1 is a diagrammatic viewin side elevation-partly in section of a burner showing the arrangement tor producing differential heat radiating surfaces at the respective electrodes and varying crossseetional area of the active electrode surfaces. Fig. 2 shows another form of burner namely a burner arranged as a U-shaped tube with an enlargementor bulb at each end of such U shaped tube. Fig. 3 shows another form of burner namely arranged approximately in a circular form with enlargement 0r bulb at eachend of the circular container i tube. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of Fig. 3-

bore (as shown in section) adapted to lretain the unvaporized or iin-ionized mercury within it by the pressure of the arc stream and surface tension between said small tube and the mercury or otherwise oievent it passing through the arc path during the operation of the burner.

The electrode Z) (which i have marked as the negative electrode) is provided with an enlargement b1 while the other electrode c (which l have marked as the positive elec` trede) is provided with an enlargement c1 and also is provided with a bulb al for containing that part of the mercury which is displaced from the arc path when the burner is in operation. 1

Assuming that the burner is tilted unt-il the mercury from the bulb (l has filled the small bore tube a so as to complete the circuit from b to c and then the burner restored to the position shown in the dra-Wings or thereabout by electrically operated mechanism or any other suitable means) and thereby the burner put in operation the actionv is such that at the starting up of the burner the mercury in the enlargement c1 will be at about the level shown in dotted lines at c2 and the mercury at the negative electrode will be about the level shown by the dotted lines b2. y

B v the action of the electric current throughout the operation of the apparatus mercury will tend to be transferred from the positive electrode to the negative electrode and consequently the mercury will. tend to accumulateat the negative electrode up to say the level indicated at b3 and simultaneously diminish at the positive electrode and as this proceeds eventually the level of the mercury at the positive electrode will descend in the enlargement d to lsay the level indicated at c at which point it will be obvious that a very much larger electrode surface is now presented than when said electrode was at the level c2 and consequently increased cooling eii'ect on the electrode sur- ,tace is obtained while at the saine time the active electrode surface is increased and thereby the heat due to the passage of the current through the mercury at or near this surface is diminished with the result that the temperature of the electrode falls and prevents loss by evaporization or even causes gain by condensation. As the reverse action simultaneously takes place at the other electrode a state of equilibrium is established i.

between the amount of mercury lost and gained. by each ,electrode from whatever cause. inasmuch as Fig. v1 illustrates the condition of the lamp during active operz'itidx,y

iso

theposition of the negative electrode elvtcndin up to the level b3 is justified, since 'the action' ofthe current during this condi-` tion of the apparatus is suiiici'ent to produce .Y this result.

Itjv does not follow that this point of equilibrium will berez.`I ied exactly at the level ofthe mercury' indicated in l[ `ig.-1 as aforelsixteenths of an inch lp to five-sixteenths of an Vinch or more. By providing a slmllarenlargement b1 at the negative electrode b` this enables the burner to work with the current reversed.

In Fig. 2 the small bore container tube a is shown with enlargements or bulbs e and f practically of equal form and dimensions at each end of such U-shaped tube.

geously such as to completely lilllor rather more thanfill: each enlargement e and,` j

when the lamp is tilted and inoperation the mercury is" gradually` transferred from the' positive electrode .c so that'the level of the surface of the mercury' at thepositive" electrode gradually recedes toward or into' the enlargement e at the1 positive electrode whilethe level ofthe mercury at the negative electrode f is gradually removed fur'- ther from said negative electrodelfo'r example as indicated in'tliedrawings)v untily the point is reached that the mercuryat the level flbecomes so much hotter than' the mercury at the level e that the equilibrium f as mentioned above is established.l

In Figs. '3 and L the small bore container tube a 1s shown arranged 1n .a circular form or thereabout with a positive electrode e and negative electrode f each ofthe same i size or approximately so with enlargements 5f)v or bulbs ex i* locatedoutside the path of the arc stream. In this arrangcmentfthe mer-5" cury lies right around the tubea (before the lamp' is started) so as to normally connect the electrodes n and f and advantageously a small bore tube 'isused with suliicient mer# cury to normally fill said tube in order to connecttheltwo electrodes e and f.

^ When the. burner4 is'started by tilting same -the'mercury is separated at or aboutgoen trally between the' two 'electrodes' and" is the respec7 and the Varc stream extends aroundthe circular tube to or near ,the electrode, f.'

and the`V point of equilibrium is reached at l'tive electrodeb and with a.

- As the mercury diminishes at thepositivc electrodeje 'and accumulatesat or near the electrode f the arrangementfis such that similar action takes` place as` before described which 'the respectivelei-"els of the electrode surfaces remain constant or practically so throughout the operation of the burner.

On` the container tube (z-and Aat about midway between the electrodes e and f--I arrange a'small vertical tube g terminating in A'a bulb g1 which is in closed connection with the interior of the lsaid tube so that 'when the mercury is caused or `allowed to pass around the container tube a to connect the electrodes e and f as aforesaid part of said mercury will bei'orced up the tube g and formi a small head o (when the burner is tilted to start the same) will cause the mercury to positively divide lat the point immediately'below this said small column of Vmercury and thus insure lstarting the arc stream in the tube about centrally -with respect tothe electrodes and thisl insures the positive'startmg up ofithe burner in a regular manner. In the manut -facture of theseburners I find itadvantaf The .qiiigatlty of' mercury" 1s adva'ntaj-v geous to' vutilize'this vertical columnv g and enlargement gl for the purpose of connecting.` to the vacuum pumps and the subseq'ueiit sealing oil".4

In the arrangement 'shown in Fig. 5-- which is similar to Fig. 1y with certain modi cations-the container tube a is shown straight with an enlargement b' at the nega- I pocket. near the positive electrode c. In place of the eulargement c1 shown in Fig. l the bulb nl for receiving the mercury is shown in a slightlv ldifferent position. to' that of the bulb d iii Fig. l. he operationof this burner is. simi- `lar to that already fully described with ref- 'erence to Fig. 1 the mercury in the pocket c* producing a .cooling efl'ect at or near the positive electrode c. Y i

Referring now Yto Fig. (Sz-ln this arrangement the enlargement Z1 as before is provided at the Inegative electrode while no special enlargement (such as c* shown in Fig. 1` or such as the pocket c* shown in Fig.

y5) is provided at the positive electrode c beyond the enlargement or bulb (I which receives the mercury displaced from the path of the arc. stream. his a projection-advanta-geously glass-which extends into the 12 y bore of the tube a near the-negative electrode so as to reduce the cross-section of the bore' .offsaidtube,a at this point' with the result when the burner is tilted to start same 'this'.construction .will insure the n mercury 125 always separating at thepoint I1, on startin'gup.- Y y Instead of the projection h the tube a. can

,beconvemently constrictedby drawing the same out at anydesired point; and the said 13G' mercury which fi l .l projection h or the said placed or made at any constriction can beV suitable point. Referring now to Fig. 7 This shows a similar burner to Fig. 6 but in place'of the constriction at l1, the tube ais provided with a vertical column g with enlargement g1 at the t'op thereof same being in connection with-the bore of the tube a so that when the mercury is caused or allowed to flow along the tube a to connect up the electrodes b and c part-of said mercury will enter the said vertical tube g and' form-a column or head Vwhich when the lamp is tilted at starting will insure the mercury separating at the point just below said vertical tube g at the ystarting kup of the burner in a similar manner to that described with reference to Figs.

3 and 4.

' burner can b Referring now to Fig. 8:.-In this burner shownsan enlargement b1 at the negative 1s electrode b while the enlargement at the positive 4electrode merges into the bulb d which receives themercury displaced from the arc stream. In this arrangement this bulb d is shown provided with an upwardly extending chamber l-which is in communi cation with saidchamber d and the tube a; saidlchamber l being adapted to receive and retain therein vany small quantity of air or gas which may be sealed within the burner which device Z air trap.

Any air 4or I may conveniently term the gaspresent at anypoint in the shaking or otherwise be re` moved into t is vair trap or chamber'l and thereafter when the burner is in operation and the mercury is forced back into the bulb dit will tend to entersaid small chamber Z and will consequently ut any such air or gas in said air trap Z un er more or less pressure therein with the result that the return of the mercury from the chamber d into the tube a (when the burner 'is returned to its both electrodes,

normal position upon discontinuance of cur# rent thereto) is facilitated. This `air trap Z may be placed if desired in any other convenient position on the burner e.

g. it may be arranged at the negative electrode orfat Referring now to Fig. 9 Instead of pro- `viding enlargements such as b1 and 0 1 at or near the electrodes as beforedescribed I may 'obtain similar or equivalent eiect by providing an enlarged surface or mass such as the swellings or thickened glass walls b* e* as illustrated in Fig. Q; oi-.these 'swellings' (Iopol ot this patent may be obtained for nve cents each, by addressing the 1: Washingtomllc.

may be formed of other suitable vmaterial or suitable portions of the surfaces may for the purposes hereinbefore described be-prepared in any of the well-'known Ways either to refd or to encourage radiation of heat. In this case advantage isnot necessarily taken of increasing or diminishing the active electrode surface so as to moderate the temperature. y It will be obvious that if desired and` where suitable the current may be passed inreverse direction through any of the burners illustrated especially in burners constructed Vin the manner described and illustrated in Figs. l to 4. ,Thereforemercury displaced from one electrode vowing to the difference in discovery I am thereby enabled to establish and maintain constant quantities of .electrode material at each electrode respectively Awithout the passage .-'of solid mercury through the arc pat A InY the following claims the terms burn-:.-

er and mercury are (for the salte of" brevity) Y.respectively used to denote and include'any suitable device and any suitable lelectrode material ashereinbefore defined or' explained.

This application isia division of my appli` l cation Serial Number 292,480, filed December 19th, 1905. I claim as-my invention: l. Ina vapor electric lamp, a vapor tube having a positive and a negative mercury electrode; the. tube having a diameter not exceeding the critical diameter surface tension of mercury will be overcome position.` 2. In a vapor electric-lamp, a vapor tube having a positive and a negative electrode of vaporizable material, thediameter of the tube and the surface tension of the Vaporizable material serving to restrain the said material from flowing in a liquid condition through the tube.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses. CHARLES ORME BA-STIA'N.

Witnesses: Y f .Y HL DJMmsoN,

C. P. LIDDoN.

Commissioner 'ot Infants,

at which the Aby gravity when the tube is in its operative les 

